Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by North Star Investment Management Corp.

North Star Investment Management Corp. cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,505 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,031 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 241.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC now owns 379 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $427.85 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $369.01 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $428.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $511.62.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MSFT

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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